Telangana MP sent to jail

An MP and two Andhra Pradesh legislators from Telangana were Sunday sent to jail for participating in 'rail blockade', which entered the second day Sunday across the region, police said

A railway court in Secunderabad sent Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP Vijayshanti and eight others to judicial custody till Oct 22. They were shifted to Chanchalguda Central Jail. They were arrested Saturday while protesting here on the railway tracks.

Congress MP S. Rajaiah in Warangal district remained in police custody and is likely to be produced before a magistrate later in the day.

Congress MP from Peddapalli in Karimnagar district G. Vivek and 16 others were released on bail.

MP from Karimnagar Ponnam Prabhakar and former state minister Jeevan Reddy were Saturday night remanded to judicial custody for two weeks.

TRS legislators Harish Rao and E. Rajender were among those sent to jail for participating in 'rail roko'.

After his release, Vivek alleged that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was acting with vendetta against Telangana MPs. He said false cases and arrests cannot silence the Telangana movement.

Police arrested over 3,000 protesters including MPs and legislators in Telangana Saturday on the first day of the blockade called by Joint Action Committee (JAC) to press the demand for separate Telangana state.

Protesting the large-scale arrests and 'repressive measures' by the government, JAC Saturday night called for Telangana shutdown Monday.